Chapter 42: 042.0f course
Translator: 549690339
[Of course]
“Then try to play mute tomorrow.” Su Liang blurted out sarcastically. This man usually speaks sparingly. Even though he spoke more than usual today, it was still far below a normal person’s level. What was he so tired about?
Ning Jing nodded slightly, “Sure.”
Su Liang: …
Back home in the county town, just as they were about to close the door, Su Xingzhe’s family members chased them down, crying and ready to kneel down to Ning Jing and Su Liang. Passersby nearby all looked this way.
Su Liang’s face darkened, “Stand up!”
The old woman was startled by Su Liang’s cold gaze. Her trembling legs gave way and only by leaning on her son did she manage not to fall over.
“Ning Jing went to testify, just to tell the truth, not to save Su Xingzhe. Do you come here without fear of the County Magistrate thinking that we are relatives, have private dealings, and ruling Ning Jing’s testimony invalid?” Su Liang said coldly.
Su Xingsheng looked horrified and reacted with a start. He supported the old woman to stand up and quickly turned around to leave.
“That wench, what she…” The old woman began to curse Su Liang again.
Su Xingsheng quickly covered the old woman’s mouth, stomping his feet in annoyance, “Mom, just shut up! Don’t you see that Su Liang and Ning Jing are trying to save my third brother? The reason she just sent us away is also for my third brother’s benefit!”
The old woman was left gaping in astonishment, unable to speak.
After a while, she clenched her teeth and grumbled, “You idiots! Do you really think they are good-hearted? Zhe got into trouble, and that’s all due to Ning Jing! Zhe innocently took the blame for him!”
“If Su Xingzhe ends up being alright, I doubt that he would feel grateful towards you. Instead, he would blame all misfortunes on you. Me too,” Su Liang said with a slight sigh.
“You want to kill him?” Ning Jing countered, glancing at the glabella on Su Liang’s forehead.
Su Liang shook her head, “No. If we kill one Su Xingzhe, his family will hate us and may seek revenge. Are we to wipe out them all? The death of Su Daqiang and his family is necessary because they conspired to kill… me.”
By the time she uttered the last word, Su Liang felt it a bit strange, so she ended up the topic, “Let’s see the result of the case tomorrow.”
At dusk, when Su Liang asked Ning Jing to make a fire and prepare dinner, she found he was not at home.
After they returned, Su Liang went back to her room to read, while Ning Jing tidied up the dishes he’d used before returning to his own room.
Su Liang had absolutely no idea when he had gone out.
By the time Su Liang was about to finish cooking the porridge, Ning Jing was back.
“Did you go to ‘protect’ Mai Fei, or to investigate Zhao Zhukao?” Su Liang lifted the lid of the pot, and a waft of delicious aroma billowed out.
Ning Jing walked into the kitchen, handing a delicate jar to Su Liang.
“What’s this?” Su Liang took it, opened the lid, and smelled the sweet scent she hadn’t encountered for a long time.
It was the honey she’d casually mentioned to Ning Jing when she “invited” him to drink some natural pomegranate juice today, saying, “It would be great if there were any.”
“Where did you get it?” Su Liang was pleasantly surprised.
“From the County government,” Ning Jing answered.
Su Liang understood. It must be from Mai Fei. After all, he wasn’t just an ordinary County Magistrate, but the fourth prince of Qian Country. Even though he was under disguise here, he would not change his habits regarding food and clothing.
And this thing could not have been gifted to Ning Jing by Mai Fei, so he must have taken it on the sly.
“I’ll make another bowl of pomegranate juice for you later. I guarantee it will taste good,” Su Liang said, setting the honey down.
Ning Jing sat down naturally to build a fire, “Zhao Qingsong is dead.” Su Liang frowned, “How did he die?”
“When the people who were to arrest him got there, he had already hung himself. The body was still warm,” Ning Jing said.
This reminded Su Liang of Su Yuanzhou’s family, who had supposedly committed suicide for fear of punishment.
She believed there must be a problem with Zhao Qingsong, but whether it was suicide or he was silenced, it was still uncertain.
“In Zhao Qingsong’s room, officials found a large amount of unaccountable wealth. A waiter stepped forward and said he remembered a mysterious young gentleman meeting Zhao Qingsong in a restaurant a few days ago.” The flickering firelight gave Ning Jing’s cool face an eerie illumination.
Su Liang was taken aback, “Is it Ning Huan, the one you killed? Was he the one who bribed and instigated the chief examiner to frame you? The timeline is right. Although it was not public that you were recommended by Xing Yusheng to participate in the Court Examination, Ning Huan had plenty of money to investigate you.”
Initially, she had thought that the Ning family would not have enough time to do something upon learning that Ning Jing was going to participate in the imperial exam.
However, she had overlooked the fact that Ning Yao had sent Ning Huan, the sixth son of the Ning family, to deal with Ning Jing, and he had stayed in Bei’an County for some days.
Ning Huan, who knew he was doomed to die, would not reveal his evil deeds and alert Ning Jing.
With that, the truth seemed to have suddenly become clear.
“So is it true that Zhao Qingsong committed suicide out of guilt? After all, Ning
Huan and his subordinates have already been handled by you,” Su Liang said.
Ning Jing stared at the jumping flames in the stove, falling silent.
At the county government.
Mai Fei was informed that the honey brought from the capital city was missing. 1–1is aide, Chang’an, was about to investigate, but was stopped.
“I didn’t expect that Zhao Qingsong would first take money from the Ning family, then pretend to obey his master. How clever!” Chang’an sneered, “Even without an order from the master, he had been bought to cheat. If he hadn’t committed suicide, I would have killed him!”
Mai Fei narrowed his eyes slightly, “Coincidence? I can only say that the Ning family in Xunyang has never let Ning Jing go, nor allowed him to stand out.”
“If that’s the case, just kill him! Why go through all this trouble? Given the Ning family’s wealth, why didn’t they hire Yanyun Building?” Chang’an was confused.
Mai Fei smiled vaguely, “How do you know they didn’t? Do you think Ning Jing is still alive, has won the jade token of Crown Prince Bei Jingwang, and is participating in the imperial examination, all due to good fortune? Or his elder brother’s kindness?”
“I don’t understand, he has been expelled from the family, so he has nothing to do with the Ning Family. Why do they insist on killing him?” Chang’an frowned and asked.
“You don’t know the reason, that’s why you think so. The mother of Ning Jing also has the surname Ning,” Mai Fei said.
Chang’an was stunned, “This…”
“The previous head of the Ning family, Ning Jixian, was Ning Jing’s maternal grandfather. All his sons died prematurely, leaving only one daughter who grew up. He was supposed to have adopted a nephew to inherit the family business, but he did not do so,” Mai Fei said, “The current head of the Ning family, Ning Zhong, is nothing more than a son-in-law who took his wife’s surname! If Ning Jixian hadn’t died early, how could the Ning family be in such a state today? Ning Zhong’s children, apart from Ning Jing, are not of the legitimate bloodline of Ning family of Xunyang at all, but are just bastards of other surnames. As long as Ning Jing is alive, they will always be bastards.”
Chang’an was surprised, “A son-in-law has given birth to so many siblings for Ning Jing? Then they expelled Ning Jing from the family…”
“It’s a big joke,” Mai Fei snorted, “The emperor plans to get rid of Bei Jingwang. I tried Ning Jing with Zhao Qingsong, only wanting to see his character and talent. If there’s a problem, just get rid of him directly. If he can be utilized, it’s also good to use him to take down the Ning family. Today, I tested him with Su Liang. He took away the sedatives, but he was not very discerning when acting as a witness. What kind of person do you think he is?”
Chang’an shook his head, “I can’t see through him. But there’s nothing wrong with his testimony today. Knowing that someone wants to harm him and not Imowing that it has anything to do with the master, he just wanted to find the person behind the scenes.”
Mai Fei’s eyes were unfathomable, “Let’s see if he will give Su Liang to me.”
“What if he took the sedatives just to appease the master, and refuses to hand over Su Liang? After all, he has support. The power of Bei Jingwang Mansion is not small and it has not yet fallen,” Chang’an asked.
Mai Fei seemed thoughtful, “Being able to be husband and wife, but choosing to be siblings indicates that there are no romantic feelings between them. Ning Jing’s feelings for Su Liang may not be devoid of the intention to use her. If he doesn’t understand this, I’ll talk to Su Liang myself. Do you think she would choose to go with me?”
Chang’an nodded immediately, “Of course!”